Deck 3: Free Will and Determinism

Question 1

Does science or common sense prove that we have no free will? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Not Answer.

Question 2

Can an uncaused event be a free action? Why or why not?

Answer 2

Not Answer.

Question 3

Is the fact that an event is unconstrained and caused by one's will enough to make it a free action? Why or why not?

Answer 3

Not Answer.

Question 4

Is the fact that an event is caused by a second-order volition that one decisively identifies with enough to make it a free action?

Question 5

Can agent-caused actions be rational? Why or why not?

Question 6

According to libertarianism, would LaPlace's superbeing (who knows all the physical facts about the universe and can perform instantaneous calculations) be able to predict your behavior with 100% accuracy? Why or why not?

Question 7

Is it logically possible to construct a machine that has free will? Why or why not?

Question 8

Hard Determinists reject which premise of the following argument?
P1: If every event has a cause, then there are no free actions.
P2: Every event has a cause.
C: There are no free actions.

A) P1: If every event has a cause, then there are no free actions.
B) P2: Every event has a cause.
C) Both Premises
D) Neither Premise

Question 9

Incompatibilists reject which premise of the following argument?
P1: If every event has a cause, then there are no free actions.
P2: Every event has a cause.
C: There are no free actions.

A) P1: If every event has a cause, then there are no free actions.
B) P2: Every event has a cause.
C) Both Premises
D) Neither Premise

Question 10

Causal determinism is the belief that

A) every event has a cause.
B) all events are completely disconnected from each other.
C) an effect cannot have more than one cause.
D) some events are uncaused.
E) all events are uncaused

Question 11

According to the textbook, what is riding on the answer to the problem of free will and determinism?

A) moral and legal responsibility
B) the existence of God
C) the solution to the creation vs. evolution debate
D) justifying legitimate political authority

Question 12

Which theory does the Merchant in Baghdad story illustrate?

A) Fatalism
B) Hard Determinism
C) Traditional Compatibilism
D) Libertarianism
E) Hierarchical Compatibilism

Question 13

Fatalism is the

A) idea that the future is fixed regardless of what we do.
B) idea that the future is open and uncertain.
C) fear of death.
D) study of death.
E) none of these

Question 14

Which of God's attributes seems to undermine free will?

A) omniscience
B) omnibenevolence
C) none of these
D) immutability
E) eternity

Question 15

In Samuel Butler's Erewhon, people who commit crimes are

A) enslaved by the families of the victims.
B) executed by the police without a trial.
C) put on public display at the zoo.
D) stoned to death.
E) treated in hospitals.

Question 16

Psychologists call the process of reinforcing certain behaviors using punishments and rewards ______ conditioning.

A) operant
B) classical
C) selective
D) discipline
E) retreat

Question 17

Sociobiologists believe that our behavior can be explained in terms of

A) political struggles.
B) natural selection.
C) economic pressures.
D) social influences.
E) none of these

Question 18

John Hick argues that hard determinism

A) is correct.
B) is self-refuting.
C) is a rational belief.
D) is the basis for intellectual freedom.

Question 19

Indeterminists reject which premise of the following argument?
P1: If every event has a cause, then there are no free actions.
P2: Every event has a cause.
C: There are no free actions.

A) P1: If every event has a cause, then there are no free actions.
B) P2: Every event has a cause.
C) Both Premises
D) Neither Premise

Question 20

Quantum Mechanics holds that the behavior of _______ are uncaused events.

A) subatomic particles
B) genes
C) igneous rocks
D) Martian soil
E) extinct species

Question 21

Martin Gardner's random bombardier thought experiment shows that

A) uncaused events in the microworld can never affect the macroworld.
B) all macro events are the product of micro causes.
C) uncaused events in the microworld can affect the macroworld.
D) the macro must be causally determined.
E) Geiger counters are causally determined time-keeping devices.

Question 22

Causal indeterminism is the view that

A) all events have causes.
B) some events are uncaused.
C) some events have more causes than we can find.
D) every event has only one cause.
E) every event has multiple causes.

Question 23

William James, the leading proponent of indeterminism, defines free actions as

A) internally caused.
B) not externally constrained.
C) uncaused.
D) caused by the self.
E) sufficiently caused.

Question 24

Taylor's Unpredictable Arm thought experiment shows that

A) we are responsible for our actions no matter what.
B) our actions are best explained as electromagnetic activity.
C) we can't be held responsible for uncaused behavior.
D) even uncaused actions can be predicted.

Question 25

A reflex differs from an action in that it lacks ____.

A) intention
B) implications
C) impulse
D) reversibility

Question 26

The view held by Hobbes that the world is composed entirely of matter in motion is called ____.

A) materialism
B) fatalism
C) pluralism
D) unitarianism
E) catastrophism

Question 27

Traditional Compatibilists believe that free actions have ____ causes.

A) internal
B) external
C) no
D) supernatural

Question 28

Locke's Trapped Conversationalist thought experiment provides an example of an action that is

A) externally constrained.
B) caused by the will.
C) unfree according to traditional compatibilism.
D) all of these.

Question 29

In Taylor's Ingenious Physiologist thought experiment, the agent's

A) desires have planted in his will by someone else.
B) actions are externally constrained.
C) actions are not caused by his will.
D) none of these.

Question 30

A direct cause of an action is called a _____ cause.

A) proximal
B) distal
C) constrained
D) conjuncted

Question 31

Frankfurt's decision inducer thought experiment shows that

A) one can be held responsible for an action even if one couldn't do otherwise.
B) not every event has a cause.
C) desires are produced by external forces.
D) genetics plays a stronger role than environment in forming our character.

Question 32

Second-order desires are directed on ____.

A) persons
B) objects
C) states of affairs
D) first-order desires

Question 33

According to Frankfurt, the second-order desires which one decisively identifies with and wants to act on are called

A) first-order desires.
B) second-order volitions.
C) third-order desires.
D) impulses.
E) decision inducers.

Question 34

According to Hierarchical Compatibilism, which of Frankfurt's addicts acts freely?

A) happy addict
B) wanton addict
C) unwilling addict
D) all of them
E) none of them

Question 35

Hierarchial compatibilism explains why

A) drug addicts and people suffering from obsessive-compulsive do not act freely.
B) animals do not have free will.
C) people sometimes do not feel in control over their lives.
D) all of these.
E) none of these.

Question 36

Michael Slote's Hypnotized Patient thought experiment shows that

A) it is logically possible that our second-order desires are not our own.
B) first-order desires always conflict with second-order desires.
C) second-order desires are always under our own control, even under hypnosis.
D) we can be de-programmed of our first-order desires.
E) we have no second-order desires

Question 37

Libertarians require that free actions be caused by _____.

A) the agent
B) event causes
C) random chance
D) the government
E) external factors

Question 38

Thomas Reid maintained that what matters for free will is being able to ____ otherwise.

A) do
B) choose

Question 39

Agent-Cause:

A) a self causing an event.
B) a random cause.
C) a direct cause.
D) an indirect cause.
E) an event causing an event.

Question 40

Event-Cause:

A) a self causing an event.
B) a random cause.
C) a direct cause.
D) an indirect cause.
E) an event causing an event.

Question 41

According to Timothy O'Connor, free will could be the product of emergent properties such as consciousness that cannot be reduced to anything physical. He calls these _____ properties.

A) volition-enabling
B) deterministic
C) dualistic
D) pluralistic
E) spiritual

Question 42

Laplace's Superbeing thought experiment is intended to show that if causal determinism is true

A) a Superbeing could precisely predict the future and retrodict the past.
B) even a Superbeing could not precisely predict the future.
C) some beings in the universe have free will.
D) free will is inherent in the properties of the universe.

Question 43

Gardner's Random Bombardier thought experiment is intended to show that

A) although causal determinism doesn't hold on the micro level, it does hold on the macro level.
B) uncaused events on the micro level can have profound effects on events on the macro level.
C) both the micro and the macro levels are ruled entirely by causal determinism.
D) Geiger counters can detect random events on the micro level.

Question 44

Taylor's Unpredictable Arm thought experiment is intended to show that

A) if the movements of your body are completely random, you cannot be held responsible for them.
B) indeterminists don't believe in free will.
C) people cannot be held responsible for their actions.
D) even if the movements of your body are completely random, you can nevertheless be held responsible for them.

Question 45

Newcomb's Paradox thought experiment is intended to show that

A) there is no supreme being.
B) rational decision-making is impossible.
C) there is no conflict between commonly accepted principles of rational decision-making.
D) there is a conflict between two commonly accepted principles of rational decision-making.

Question 46

Locke's Trapped Conversationalist thought experiment is intended to show that

A) free actions do not require that one be able to do otherwise.
B) free actions are agent-caused actions.
C) free actions require that one can do otherwise.
D) there are no free actions.

Question 47

Taylor's Ingenious Physiologist thought experiment is intended to show that

A) free actions require only that actions be caused by one's will and not be externally constrained.
B) free actions are not possible.
C) you can act freely even if your desires are not your own.
D) you do not act freely if your desires are not your own.

Question 48

Taylor's Drug Addiction thought experiment is intended to show that

A) the conditions specified by traditional compatibilism are not sufficient for acting freely.
B) even drug addicts act freely.
C) the conditions specified by traditional compatibilism are sufficient for acting freely.
D) your actions are free if they are externally unconstrained and are caused by your will.

Question 49

Frankfurt's Decision Inducer thought experiment is intended to show that

A) you cannot be held responsible for an action if you couldn't have failed to perform it.
B) no one can be held responsible for an action.
C) you can be held responsible for an action as long as your choice is made consciously.
D) you can be held responsible for an action even if you couldn't have failed to perform it.

Question 50

Frankfurt's Unwilling and Wanton Addicts thought experiment is intended to show that

A) if you do not formulate second-order volitions, or if you do not act on the ones you do form, your actions are not free.
B) some actions are not free.
C) drug addicts can never form second-order volitions.
D) if you formulate second-order volitions, or if you act on the ones you do form, your actions are not free.

Question 51

Frankfurt's Happy Addict thought experiment is intended to show that

A) as long as you act on your first-order volitions, you are responsible for your actions, whether or not you could do otherwise.
B) you are responsible for your actions only if you could do otherwise.
C) as long as you act on your second-order volitions, you are responsible for your actions, whether or not you could do otherwise.
D) you are always responsible for your actions.

Question 52

Slote's Hypnotized Patient thought experiment is intended to show that

A) some actions are not free.
B) there must be more to acting freely than acting on second-order volitions with which you decisively identify.
C) to act freely is to act on second-order volitions with which you decisively identify.
D) it's not possible to decisively identify with one's second-order volitions.

Question 53

According to hard determinism, human actions are like all other events in the universe, insofar as:

A) they are determined by past events and laws of nature.
B) they are caused by God.
C) they have an unknown cause.
D) they are uncaused.

Question 54

Determinism differs from fatalism insofar as it maintains that

A) if the past were different, the future would be different.
B) there is only one possible future.
C) we are powerless to change the future.
D) we cannot escape our fate.

Question 55

According to hard determinists, we think we are free but we really are not because:

A) we do not know the causes of our actions.
B) our actions have no causes.
C) our choices have no causes.
D) we do not know the future.

Question 56

While compatibilists argue that actions are free if they are caused by our desires, hard determinists argue that such actions are not free because

A) free actions are uncaused.
B) we can't predict what someone will do.
C) our desires themselves are caused by forces beyond our control.
D) free actions are caused by selves.

Question 57

Even though compatibilism admits that every human action has a cause, it still maintains that some actions are free insofar as:

A) the individual feels that he or she is acting freely.
B) nothing causes the individual to act as she does.
C) they are caused by one's will.
D) they are unpredictable.

Question 58

Hard determinists claim that no one acts freely because all of our actions are caused by forces beyond our control. Indeterminists try to avoid the conclusion that no one acts freely because they believe that some actions are

A) caused by the self.
B) caused by the will.
C) uncaused.
D) unavoidable.

Question 59

Critics of indeterminism claim that if free actions are uncaused, then

A) no one can be held responsible for them.
B) they can't be explained.
C) All of the above.
D) None of the above.

Question 60

Hard determinists and libertarians agree that

A) there are no free actions.
B) free will is incompatible with causal determinism.
C) some actions are uncaused.
D) some people act freely.

Question 61

Libertarians argue that our experience of deliberating and choosing is evidence that we are free. Determinists argue that such experiences are:

A) uncaused.
B) illusory.
C) unjustified.
D) irrational.

Question 62

According to libertarians, if all of the events leading up to your decision were repeated, it would be possible for you to choose otherwise.

Question 63

We are entitled to believe that we act freely until we are proven wrong.

Question 64

According to Hierarchical Compatiblism, you are not responsible for your actions if they are externally constrained.

Question 65

Traditional Compatibilists are considered Soft Determinists.

Question 66

John B. Watson was able to produce any desired behavior in animals and humans through conditioning.

Question 67

D'Holbach argues that the past is fixed while the future is open to many possible outcomes.

Question 68

Laplace's Superbeing knows the exact future of the entire universe.

Question 69

For libertarians, real freedom consists in being able to act or choose differently in exactly the same situation with exactly the same causal history.

Question 70

According to Smilansky, compatibilists can have no principled reason for not punishing those who have a high probability of committing a crime.

Question 71

According to compatibilism, a necessary condition of acting freely is doing what you want.

Question 72

According to libertarianism, a necessary condition of acting freely is wanting what you want.

Question 73

According to libertarianism, only those who are self-programming can be free.

Question 74

Laplace's Superbeing thought experiment is intended to show that such Superbeings cannot exist.

Question 75

Gardner's Random Bombardier thought experiment shows that randomness at the micro level has no effect on the macro level.

Question 76

Taylor's Unpredictable Arm thought experiment is intended to show that random events cannot be a basis for moral responsibility.

Question 77

Newcomb's Paradox thought experiment is intended to show that there is no such thing as rational decision-making.

Question 78

Locke's Trapped Conversationalist thought experiment is intended to show that free actions require that one can do otherwise.

Question 79

Taylor's Ingenious Physiologist thought experiment is intended to show that you do not act freely if your desires are not your own.

Question 80

Taylor's Drug Addiction thought experiment is intended to show that the conditions specified by traditional compatibilism are sufficient for acting freely.